Opera Widgets

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March 30, 2007 @ 3:32 PM
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Q: Over the years, I’ve noticed that you don’t cover a whole lot about the Opera Web browser in your newsletter and I was wondering if you could change that for at least one day. Do you know of any extensions or add ons that have recently come out for Opera? I’m always looking for new things to add to it and thought I would look to you for some suggestions.

A: You’re absolutely right. From time to time, we’ve included the Opera Web browser in our tips, but we’ve never gone into very much detail with it and to be honest, I’m not really sure why. We’re always telling you all that you should familiarize yourself with more than one browser, but I guess we always just kind of stuck with Internet Explorer and Firefox. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re right, because Opera has its strengths too.

Just in case you’re not sure, Opera is another free Web browser available for download online. Their current version is 9.1 and they say “it’s a fast, fun and easy way to browse the Web.” Opera includes a lot of the same features as IE and Firefox, but it’s just not as well known. If you think you’re interested in adding another browser to your knowledge, you can download Opera 9.1 right here. Then, once you have that installed, you can cash in on the rest of this tip.

Today, I’m going to share with you 10 of the most recent and must have widgets for Opera. Now, you might be wondering what a widget is. It’s basically the same thing as an extension or a plug-in. They’re just add ons that add more functionality, etc. to the Opera browser. So, listen up, because like I said, these widgets are a definite must see!

1.) Video Downloader – This name may sound a little familiar to you. Last week, we ran an article on an extension for Firefox with the same name. Although this one is similar to that, it is a little different for Opera. It still allows you to download videos from various Web sites, including YouTube, but it does do it in a little different fashion. It’s still very cool though, so if you’re interested, you can check it out for yourself here.

2.) Gmail Checker – Do you use Opera and Gmail? If so, this is your dream come true! This widget actually displays an icon for you on your desktop that tells you how many unread messages you have in your Gmail Inbox. The icon can be moved around as easily as any other icon and it’s very useful if you have trouble keeping track of all those e-mails you get. Check it out here.

3.) Image Grep – Do you use any one of those photo storage and sharing programs out there on the Web today? I’m talking about Flickr or even Yahoo!’s version. Well, if you do, Image Grep allows you to search Flickr, Yahoo! and Google for tags or keywords that you may have included with your photos. It will do the search for you and show the results right in its own window. This is very helpful if you’re a photo guru. Click here to check out Image Grep for yourself.

4.) Mini Del.icio.us – This one is perfect for anyone who really likes to bookmark their favorite Web sites, etc. Once you download this widget, it will ask you to sign up for Del.icio.us so you can get a username. Once you enter that in, you can easily load all of your favorite bookmarks. Or, if you know someone else who uses Del.icio.us, you can use their username and get their bookmarks too. It’s as simple as that to view new and exciting Web sites each and every day. Get it right here.

5.) gCalendar – Do you have a Google calendar that you look at often? If so, gCalendar is going to work wonders for you. It’s a read only calendar that actually pulls information from your Google Calendar so you can get just a quick overview of it. So, if you need to see what you have to get done on a certain day, use gCalendar and get a fast reply. Check it out here.

6.) Bug Me Not – This one may sound familiar to you as well. We here at WorldStart have talked about Bug Me Not before, but I’ll just go over it real quick again for all you Opera users. With Bug Me Not, you can submit general passwords to their database and once you do, other users can come and use those same passwords for Web sites that are meant for members only. This way, no one has to worry about their passwords being abducted, because everyone has to use the same ones. All you have to do is enter a Web address into Bug Me Not and it will show you all its password results. It’s very helpful and you can get it for yourself by clicking here.

7.) Pandora Radio – If you’re familiar with Pandora Radio already, this widget will make your life even more simple. It displays your Pandora Radio right in its own window, which gives you much faster access to all the music you love and your favorite radio stations. Check it out here.

8.) Digg Frontpage – Do you use digg.com quite often? If not, you might want to after hearing about this awesome new widget. Digg Frontpage actually displays the digg.com homepage right in its own window. With this, you can be up to date on all the world’s news in a matter of seconds. Just open Digg Frontpage and it will all be there right in front of your eyes. You can get it here.

9.) Fark Frontpage – This one is pretty much the same as Digg Frontpage, but it displays all the news from fark.com. So, if you’re a big Fark fan, this widget is the answer to all your prayers! Check it out and get it for yourself right here.

10.) Bittorent – If you like to use torrents to get your downloading done, you’ll want to check out this widget. Bittorent does the searching for you. It searches through many of the torrent search engines and it displays the results right in its own window. Very convenient! Check it out for yourself by clicking here[1].

So, there you have it. Ten of the most recent and popular widgets for the Opera Web browser. If you’re a big Opera user, I’m sure you can find something to suit your needs. Check them out today and see what you think!